Scientists have discovered a simple way to cook food that cuts the calories

[Deleted]

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-the-calories/

White rice consumption, in particular, has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes. A cup of the cooked grain carries with it roughly 200 calories, most of which comes in the form of starch, which turns into sugar, and often thereafter body fat.

But what if there were a simple way to tweak rice ever so slightly to make it much healthier?

An undergraduate student and his professor at the University of Sri Lanka have been tinkering with a new way to cook rice that can reduce its calories by as much as 50 percent and even offer a few other added health benefits. The ingenious method, which at its core is just a simple manipulation of chemistry, involves only a couple easy steps in practice.

"What we did is cook the rice as you normally do, but when the water is boiling, before adding the raw rice, we added coconut oil—about 3 percent of the weight of the rice you're going to cook," said Sudhair James, who presented his preliminary research at National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on Monday. "After it was ready, we let it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. That's it."
...
What they found is that by adding a lipid (coconut oil in this case, because it's widely used in Sri Lanka) ahead of cooking the rice, and then cooling the rice immediately after it was done, they were able to drastically change its composition—and for the better.
...
The researchers still have to test the remaining varieties of rice, including Suduru Samba, which they believe will produce the largest calorie reduction. They also plan to experiment with oils other than coconut oil, like sunflower oil.

A world where commercially sold rice comes pre-cooked and with much fewer calories might not be that far off. People should already be able to replicate the process at home, although James warns the results might vary depending on the type of rice used. And there's good reason to believe the chemistry could be applied to many other popular but less-than-healthy foods.

[Gheld]

I have a better idea: don't eat rice.

Lots of perfectly healthy, protein rich legumes are widely available and in many cases cheaper than rice. Not to mention the starches in legumes are different (harder for the body to break down) than rice starch, and don't cause as drastic of blood sugar spikes as rice does.

The only reason people eat so much rice is because some bonehead started being like "WOW RICE IS SO HEALTHY BECAUSE IT IS LOW IN FAT" back when the stupid low fat diet trend was busy giving everybody type 2 diabetes.

[MerinPally]

I have a better idea: don't eat rice.

What a stupid idea. Rice counts for something like 30% of the calorie consumption of the planet so yeah that sounds really bad. We can use this information to make sure those who rely on rice for calories, can get as much out of it as possible, and then those that don't need all the calories can do this. We already have to grow it in such huge quantities because most of the planets population is dependent on it, so we may as well eat it rather than just let it rot.

[Illuminance]

Was hoping to see a picture of a George Foreman grill

[Nadiru]

I have a better idea: don't eat rice.

Lots of perfectly healthy, protein rich legumes are widely available and in many cases cheaper than rice. Not to mention the starches in legumes are different (harder for the body to break down) than rice starch, and don't cause as drastic of blood sugar spikes as rice does.

The only reason people eat so much rice is because some bonehead started being like "WOW RICE IS SO HEALTHY BECAUSE IT IS LOW IN FAT" back when the stupid low fat diet trend was busy giving everybody type 2 diabetes.

Rice & beans are a complete set of proteins and are a staple food for upwards of a billion people.

[unbound]

A couple of thoughts:

- This is reminiscent of margarine. It was supposed to be soooo much better than butter...oops
- They are basically making the rice more indigestible (i.e. more similar to fiber). More fiber and fiber like substances also have consequences (digestive tract issues from relatively benign to reasonably severe).

[Vapo]

that 12h cooldown between making and eating the rice doesnt help my hunger very well :<!

[Revi]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say rice isn't the main culprit for obese people. It's a neat trick to discover, probably has some commercial use, but I doubt it's going to actually help anyone's weight problem.

[Linri]

Cooks food... Waits 12 hours to eat rice...Loses weight, eats rice... Repeat.. = Weight Loss and Calorie cuts

[Vea Lea]

I have a better idea: don't eat rice.

Lots of perfectly healthy, protein rich legumes are widely available and in many cases cheaper than rice. Not to mention the starches in legumes are different (harder for the body to break down) than rice starch, and don't cause as drastic of blood sugar spikes as rice does.

The only reason people eat so much rice is because some bonehead started being like "WOW RICE IS SO HEALTHY BECAUSE IT IS LOW IN FAT" back when the stupid low fat diet trend was busy giving everybody type 2 diabetes.

i eat rice to almost all bigger meals and i have no problem with overweight due to too many calories

[Drsolders]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say rice isn't the main culprit for obese people. It's a neat trick to discover, probably has some commercial use, but I doubt it's going to actually help anyone's weight problem.

Yeah, it's pretty simple to figure out how to cut weight (most people who don't have a condition). Just cut out calories either by diet or exercise and maintain a deficit. The hard part is maintaining that but as someone that has lost 30lbs over the last two months it gets easier with time.

[Grimbold21]

Replace white rice with the brown one?

I know, it's a pain in the arse to cook, but, supposedly it's better.

[Deleted]

I found an article on rice and diabetes that seems to support the idea of refrigerating the rice. I think it is a great idea if you make a big batch to take as your lunch for the week. I know I like rice mixed with chicken or shrimp and sometimes scrambled eggs.

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/whit...etes-1329.html

I would like to know how the oil being added changes the situation compared to just sticking your rice in the fridge.

That's the key part. It is explained in the article:

To understand what's going on, you need to understand a bit of food chemistry.

Not all starches, as it happens, are created equal. Some, known as digestible starches, take only a little time to digest, are quickly turned into glucose, and then later glycogen. Excess glycogen ends up adding to the size of our guts if we don't expend enough energy to burn it off. Other starches, meanwhile, called resistant starches, take a long time to for the body to process, aren't converted into glucose or glycogen because we lack the ability to digest them, and add up to less calories.

A growing body of research, however, has shown that it might be possible to change the types of starches found in foods by modifying how they are prepared. At the very least, we know that there are observable changes when certain foods are cooked different ways.

Potatoes, for instance, go from having the right kind of starch to the less healthful kind when they are cooked or mashed (sigh, I know). The process of heating and cooling certain vegetables, like peas and sweet potatoes, can also alter the amount of resistant (see: good) starches, according to a 2009 study. And rice, depending on the method of preparation, undergoes observable chemical changes. Most notably, fried rice and pilaf style rice have a greater proportion of resistant starch than the most commonly eaten type, steamed rice, as strange as that might seem.
...
"The oil interacts with the starch in rice and changes its architecture," said James. "Chilling the rice then helps foster the conversion of starches. The result is a healthier serving, even when you heat it back up."

[Frozenbeef]

I prefer brown rice :/

[Kraenen]

Don't you want a lot of calories for energy?

I should really research more into health/food/nutrition. It's really unfortunate that our health education is so absent or misleading yet it's such a fundamental part of life.

[Korgoth]

Commercially sold pre cooked rice will never catch on because the majority of rice eaters will not be able to pay the cost difference, which is likely to be multiple times higher. Even the cost of adding in the oil may be prohibitive.

[The One Percent]

Don't you want a lot of calories for energy?

I should really research more into health/food/nutrition. It's really unfortunate that our health education is so absent or misleading yet it's such a fundamental part of life.

The problem is eating more than you use, which is the problem that the vast majority of overweight people suffer from, regardless of the bullshit they make up to prove it isn't their fault.

[Deleted]

Commercially sold pre cooked rice will never catch on because the majority of rice eaters will not be able to pay the cost difference, which is likely to be multiple times higher. Even the cost of adding in the oil may be prohibitive.

Who said anything about commercially sold pre-cooked rice? Make it yourself. People already use oil heavily in home cooking everywhere. It is one of the cheapest food ingredients.

[nextormento]

The only reason people eat so much rice is because [...]

Or because it's a relatively cheap and resilient crop, low on cooking skills requirements, with an amazingly diverse options for preparation, and is a staple for a good amount of cultures.

[Deleted]

Hmm, I've added some butter to my pots of rice before the water boiled, simply because it tastes yummy...

Well now I kinda feel proud of myself. (Hmm, the cooling part doesn't happen to be optional, does it?)